What do you think of the Marantz SR 6006? It can be had for the same price as the Denon 3312CI.

This bit of review was stolen from an Amazon.com review for this Marantz receiver. I know the coloring of the wording is not what most like to see, but interesting, none-the-less. It's a comparison going from Onkyo to Marantz as a sizable upgrade.

Begin quote - "I purchased an Onkyo TX-SR608 last year (along with various DT and Polk speakers) under the idea that I would make upgrades to my system each year. The Onkyo has been having increasing issues where it cuts out briefly (like a reboot) and comes back on. The speakers are doing their job so I decided I would replace the Onkyo with this years upgrade fund. This Marantz receiver has been on my shopping list for sometime. After reading several reviews and seeing the $799 special price at Amazon I purchased the SR6006. It was quite easy to swap out and setup. The most time consuming piece of the project was reprogramming my Harmony One. The sound difference is hard to describe, it's 'cleaner' and voice are more defined, they don't seem to fade into the background/music. The real difference is in the HD picture. It seems noticeably clearer and more 'crisp' on HD channels and DVD's. The sound through my back speakers (running 5.1) is VERY nice and noticeably louder. I'm using Definitive ProMonitors in the back, Pro Center 2000 in the center, and Polk TSi 400's bi-amp'd and Polk PSW505 for a sub. I'm really enjoying this new receiver, though I'm not sure I appreciate it enough to pay full retail for it. Next up, some DT BP8040's." - end quote.

Call a local electronic repair shop, they can solder a new RCA connector on your receiver for you.

If it were that easy, I would have already done it myself. I took the cover off, thinking all I had to do was solder a new RCA plug, but it was buried in a stack of cards, that were all soldiered together. Not a simple task.

Damn, sorry man, i guess we both had the initial assumption.. I was thinking the RCA's were all on one board with a ribbon cable transmitting the signals... I would never guess that the boards were soldered together.

On a side note, This is why i like buying older tools, or professional grade tools.. It seems like all consumer grade tools today are non-repairable.. One example was my Ryobi weed-eater.. the fuel lines had broken down.. So, i was just gonna change out the lines and go about my business... NOPE.

Now, here's something I haven't thought of. I was using the Harmony 1100 (or similar), because of it's RF capability. I could just use this IR extender instead and either stick with the original remotes, or get a better quality universal that doesn't need to produce RF.

For a receiver, I'm going to get the Denon avr3312ci from Amazon.com for $799 with pre-paid shipping. If I order it now, I'd have it by Thursday. I'm making arrangements to borrow $600 of that amount now.

I checked with Best Buy first to give them a shot at the sale. First off, they wanted the original price of $1099 + sales tax. I could only talk them down to $899 + sales tax. Not a good deal.

It comes with a 3 year factory warranty, so I doubt I'll be buying an extended warranty. That's what I thought with the Pioneer I bought. It came with a 2 year factory warranty. Right at 2 years is when I started having a problem with it. I think they have these mean times before failure down to a science. Either that, or Murphy is really busy.

Concerning the Lottery. "Whoever wins either is already rich or has won at least once before."

Brian, you can get an excellent unit for less than that if you go with the Onkyo 709 factory refurb for about $420 from Accessories4less .

Sorry John, but I've read a lot of opinions today about the various receivers. What is making the bottom of the list, as far as quality, and reliability is Sony, Yamaha (except for most expensive ones), and all Onkyos. I never once, encountered something positive about the newer Onkyo receivers.

At the top of this list is Pioneer Elites (but not the cheaper ones like I have), Denon, and Marantz.

On the remote front- I've had a urc tx1000 for 3-5 yrs, can't really remember, with no problems,knock wood. I got it for right around half msrp. from surf remote control. com. I had to email them for the price but they're legit. I seem to remember that scenario is not uncommon. Forgive me if this is old news but I'd hate to read about you paying msrp.